Methods and systems for opening and funding a financial account online

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for opening an account with a financial institution. One method can include electronically storing at least one rule for opening an account with a financial institution. The method can also include electronically receiving account application information from a remote device over at least one network, wherein the account application information includes personal information of a customer requesting to open an account. In addition, the method can include generating at least one risk score based on the account application information and applying the at least one rule to the at least one risk score in order to determine a decision regarding the account application information and to determine at least one funding constraint associated with the account.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/796,232 filed on Apr. 28, 2006 and U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/816,820 filed on Jun. 27, 2006, the entire contents of which areherein both incorporated by reference

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the usual course of opening a financial account, and particularly ademand deposit account, a consumer physically visits a bank, savings andloan, or credit union (i.e., a financial institution) of choice andprovides account application information (e.g., personal information)that meets the financial institution's requirements for risk assessmentand identity verification (e.g., name; address; social security number;an identification card, such as a driver's license; etc.). The consumeralso provides funds to be used in opening the account. The consumer isthen presented with and chooses between various account options. Theaccount is then “opened” using the consumer's account applicationinformation, funds presented by the customer are placed in the account,and the consumer signs a signature card to be used to confirm latertransactions.

With the growing use of the Internet and online services, such as onlinebanking services, customers desire mechanisms and services for openingand funding a new account remotely in order to avoid having tophysically visit a financial institution. In response, financialinstitutions have created a number of online account opening services.Using an online account opening service, a customer can provide accountapplication information and can provide account information of anexisting account (e.g., a checking account) that is to be used as afunding source for the new account. Since the customer is physicallyremote from the financial institution and cannot provide physicalaccount verification or authorization (e.g., a paper check, a credit ordebit card, or other paper documents), the financial institution mustattempt to verify the customer and/or the funding source.

In many existing online account opening services, verifying the fundingsource of the customer can be intrusive and time-consuming. For example,in order to verify a funding source, a customer may be required toprovide a username and a password or other security mechanisms for thefunding source that can be used to access the funding source remotely(e.g., online). The financial institution associated with the onlineaccount opening service uses the supplied username and password toattempt to remotely access the funding source. If the financialinstitution can access the funding source, the financial institution canverify that the customer owns the funding source. Many customers,however, may be unwilling to provide access information for a fundingsource to a third-party. In addition, many customers may not haveremotely-accessible funding sources.

Another method of verifying a funding source for a new account openedthrough an online account opening service involves making a small ormicro payment of a random amount to a funding source of the customer. Ifthe customer can verify the amount of money deposited in the fundingsource, the financial institution can verify that the customer owns thefunding source. The process of making a micro payment to a fundingsource, however, can take several days to complete, and does not allowthe customer to apply and open a new account within a single onlinesession.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention provide methods and systems for opening anaccount with a financial institution. One method can includeelectronically storing at least one rule for opening an account with afinancial institution. The method can also include electronicallyreceiving account application information from a remote device over atleast one network, wherein the account application information includespersonal information of a customer requesting to open an account. Inaddition, the method can include generating at least one risk scorebased on the account application information and applying the at leastone rule to the at least one risk score in order to determine a decisionregarding the account application information and to determine at leastone funding constraint associated with the account.

Additional embodiments provide an account management system for openingan account with a financial institution. The account management systemcan include a memory module that stores at least one rule for opening anaccount with a financial institution and a rules engine application. Thesystem can also include a processor and an input/output interface thatreceives account application information from at least one remote deviceover at least one network. The processor generates at least one riskscore based on the account application information, the at least onerisk score specifying a risk to the financial institution of opening theaccount for the customer and executes the rules engine application toapply the at least one rule to the at least one risk score in order todetermine a decision regarding the account application information andto determine at least one funding constraint associated with theaccount.

Further embodiments provide a system for opening an account with afinancial institution. The system can include an account managementsystem, at least one network, and at least one remote device. The atleast one remote device electronically transmits account applicationinformation to the account management system over the at least onenetwork. The account management system generates at least one risk scorebased on the account application information, applies the at least onerule to the at least one risk score in order to determine a decisionregarding the account application information and to determine at leastone funding constraint associated with the account, and electronicallytransmits the decision and the at least one funding constraint to the atleast one remote device over the at least one network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for opening an account according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method of opening an account using the system ofFIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system for configuring the system of FIG. 1according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method of verifying a funding source for a newaccount according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a hypothetical scenario for approving new accountrequests according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a system for monitoring an account opening processaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it isto be understood that the invention is not limited in its application tothe details of construction and the arrangement of components set forthin the following description or illustrated in the following drawings.The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced orof being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood thatthe phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limited. The use of“including,” “comprising” or “having” and variations thereof herein ismeant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereofas well as additional items. The terms “mounted,” “connected” and“coupled” are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirectmounting, connecting and coupling. Further, “connected” and “coupled”are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings,and can include electrical connections or couplings, whether direct orindirect. Also, electronic communications and notifications may beperformed using any known means including direct connections, wirelessconnections, etc.

It should also be noted that a plurality of hardware and software baseddevices, as well as a plurality of different structural components, maybe utilized to implement the invention. Furthermore, and as described insubsequent paragraphs, the specific configurations illustrated in thedrawings are intended to exemplify embodiments of the invention and thatother alternative configurations are possible.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 for opening an account with a financialinstitution according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown inFIG. 1, the system 10 includes an account management system 11 and oneor more remote devices 12. The remote devices 12 can include but are notlimited to a client computer 12 a and a financial institution system 12b. It should be understood that the client computer 12 a can includevarious devices, such as personal digital assistants (“PDAs”),Blackberry devices, cellular phones, and any other type deviceconfigured to output or transmit data to an external device. In someembodiments, the client computer 12 a includes a general purposecomputing device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the remote devices 12 can be connected to theaccount management system 11 via one or more networks 13. The networks13 can include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network(“WAN”), a cellular network, the Internet, and/or other types ofnetworks. Alternatively or in addition, the remote devices 12 can bedirectly connected to the account management system 11.

The account management system 11 can include an input/output interface11 a, one or more processors 11 b, and one or more memory modules 11 c.The input/output interface 11 a can be configured to receive informationfrom the remote devices 12 and can be configured to transmit informationto the remote devices 12 (e.g., over the network 13). The input/outputinterface 11 a can be configured to store information received from theremote devices 12 to the memory module 12 c.

The memory module 12 c can also store one or more software modulesand/or applications and data that the processor 12 a can fetch andexecute in order to perform account opening services and/or otheraccount management services. For example, as described below withrespect to FIG. 4, the memory module 12 c can store a rules engineapplication and rules applied by the rules engine application, anautomated configuration application, and a management consoleapplication. The memory module 12 c can also store output generated bythe processor 12 a and/or other data used by the applications stored inthe memory module 12 c.

It should be understood that the systems and devices illustrated in FIG.1 can be combined and distributed in various configurations. Forexample, the account management system 11 can be combined with afinancial institution system 12 b and provided as a single system (e.g.,provided by a single server). The account management system 11 can alsobe distributed among a plurality of systems or devices (e.g., providedby a plurality of servers).

FIG. 2 illustrates a method 14 of opening an account using the system 10according to an embodiment of the invention. In particular, the method14 illustrates a method of verifying and opening a new account for acustomer through an online account opening service of a financialinstitution [e.g., provided or hosted (e.g., ASP hosted) by the accountmanagement system 11]. It should be understood, however, that theaccount opening and funding method 14 can also be used to open newaccounts when a customer physically visits or contacts (e.g., via atelephone) a location of a financial institution (e.g., a branch or acall center). For example, an agent or employee associated with thefinancial institution may use the online account opening service todetermine whether to approve or reject an application for a new accountpresented by a customer physically visiting or contacting a location ofthe financial institution. A customer may also use the online accountopening service to initiate a new account application and may visit abranch of a financial institution or call a call center of a financialinstitution in order to complete the application.

As shown in FIG. 2, to open a new account (e.g., a savings account, ademand deposit account, a checking account, a checking fixed termcertificate account, a money market account, a youth account, a variableterm certificate account, etc.) a customer can access an online accountopening service 15 (hereinafter referred to as the “service”) providedby the account management system 11 using a remote device 12, such as aclient computer 12 a connected to a network (e.g., the Internet). Insome embodiments, the online account opening service 15 can also be usedto open, fund, and/or manage other types of products, such as creditcards, overdraft lines of credit, home equity lines of credit,automobile loans, etc., in a similar manner as opening a new account. Afinancial institution associated with the online account opening service15 can limit the types and number of accounts and products that can beopened and/or managed using the online account opening service 15.

In some embodiments, the remote device 12 executes a browser applicationto request, access, view, and provide input to screens (e.g., web pages)of the online account opening service 15. The remote device 12 can belocated at the location of the customer applying for a new account(e.g., at a customer's home), at a physical location of a branch of afinancial institution, or at a call center of a financial institution.If the remote device 12 is located at a call center of a financialinstitution, a customer service representative may operate the remotedevice 12 on behalf of a customer who calls in a new account request. Insome embodiments, the online account opening service 15 tracks andmanages customers or users connected to the service 15 (e.g., throughthe Internet or through an integrated system of a financialinstitution). For example, the service 15 can limit how many times auser connected from a particular network or system can be connected tothe service 15 (e.g., within a predetermined amount of time, at onetime, etc.).

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, the customer accesses theservice 15 through a web site or web pages 17 a provided by a financialinstitution. For example, in some embodiments, an “Open an Account”button on a web site of a financial institution links customers to theweb site or web pages 17 b of the online account opening service 15.Linking the service 15 to other web sites and pages 17 a of a financialinstitution can leverage and complement the financial institution'sexisting online branding and can provide the financial institution'scustomers with a seamless experience when opening a new account online.In some embodiments, customers of the financial institution can use theonline account opening service 15 to open and fund new accounts 24 hoursa day and 7 days a week.

The screens (e.g., web pages 17 b) of the online account opening service15 can also be customized and/or branded based on the financialinstitution managing or operating the service 15. For example, screens17 b of the service 15 can be branded with the financial institution'slogo, standards, and/or with a format consistent with other web pages ofthe financial institution. In some embodiments, a financial institutionconfigures the screens and/or functionality of the online accountopening service 15 using an automated configuration application 16(e.g., a web-based configuration wizard) (see FIG. 3). As shown in FIG.3, the automated configuration application 16 can be stored and executed(e.g., ASP hosted) by the account management system 11. Alternatively orin addition, the automated configuration application 16 can be locallystored on a device of a financial institution or a remote device and cantransmit or download configuration information to the account managementsystem 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, a user (e.g., an individual associated with afinancial institution) can use a remote device 12, such as a computer,to access the application 16. In some embodiments, the remote device 12executes a browser application to request, access, view, and provideinput to screens (e.g., web pages) of the automated configurationapplication 16. Using the screens of the application 16, the user canprovide configuration information, which can be transmitted to theaccount management system 11 (e.g., directly or via one or more networks13). The account management system 11 can then process the configurationinformation in order to modify the functionality of the service 15. Insome embodiments, the account management system 11 stores theconfiguration information (e.g., in the memory module 11 c) andautomatically applies the configuration information the next time arequest for a new account for the financial institution is submitted.For example, after receiving configuration information from a particularfinancial institution via the automated configuration application 16,the account management system 11 can erase or override existingconfiguration information associated with the financial institution andcan store the new configuration information.

The automated configuration application 16 can provide a financialinstitution with an easy (e.g., online) process that aligns theaccounts, products, options, pricing, policies, rules, etc. offered bythe financial institution through the service 15 with the financialinstitution's existing policies and procedures. Using the automatedconfiguration application 16, a financial institution 16 can self-directthe look, feel, and functionality of the service 15 without having tophysically contact the creator or provider of the service 15 in order tohave the service 15 rewritten or redesigned. The automated configurationapplication 16 can walk a user through available configurations and canallow a financial institution to configure and change the look, feel,and functionality of the online account opening service 15 as needed inan automated fashion with minimal effort and time. In some embodiments,financial institutions can also customize the online account openingservice 15 by providing unique content within screens of the service 15and/or by adding additional screens not part of the standard processflow provided by the service 15.

The service 15 can provide a series of screens (e.g., web pages 17 b)that automate an account opening and funding process for customers. Insome embodiments, customer presentation screens of the online accountopening service 15 are driven by a customer's input and selections inprevious screens plus business rules and policies provided by afinancial institution (e.g., via the automated configuration application16). By customizing the screens, the online account opening service 15can ensure that customers are presented with only the necessary processsteps for completing an application for particular products selected bythe customer.

The online account opening service 15 can also save and resume a newaccount application prior to its completion at any point during theapplication process. By allowing a customer to save a new accountapplication, a customer or a customer service representative can review,revise, or reconstitute an application prior to its completion.

In addition, the online account opening service 15 can provideadditional services. For example, the service 15 can display productinformation and options and associated selection tools, can provideelectronic signature tools, can provide email confirmation services, canprovide instant access to a newly funded account, and/or can provideonline banking services.

Returning to FIG. 2, once the customer accesses the online accountopening service 15, the customer can provide account application (e.g.,personal) information 18 (e.g., a name, an address, a date of birth, aphone number, a social security number, a demographic, a driver'slicense number, etc.) via one or more screens of the service 15 (e.g.,web pages 17 b of the service 15). It should be understood thatcustomers accessing the online account opening service 15 can includeexisting customers of a financial institution and new customers applyingfor a first account with a financial institution. In some embodiments,information associated with existing customers accessing the service 15is automatically obtained by the service 15 through an accessible systemof the financial institution (e.g., a core system of the financialinstitution). If personal information for an existing customer can beaccessed from a system of the financial institution by the onlineaccount opening service 15, the service 15 may not prompt the customerto provide some or any account application information 18 or may onlyprompt the existing customer to provide any updated personal information(e.g., adding shares, updating name or addresses). Alternatively, if acustomer is a new customer of the financial institution, the service 15may prompt the customer for additional account application information18, such as primary owner information, secondary owner information,additional owner(s) information, physical address information (e.g.,cannot include P.O. Box), mailing address information (e.g., can includeP.O. Box), international addresses information, standard premiuminformation, etc.

Using the account application information 18, the online account openingservice 15 can attempt to authenticate and verify the customer (e.g., inorder to prevent identity theft). For example, the online accountopening service 15 can verify an identity of a customer using averification service 20. One commercially operational example of anetwork embodying a customer verification service 20 is the IDVerification™ brand network and service operated and offered by Penley.The verification service 20 can include a web-based anti-moneylaundering tool, which helps financial institutions meet complianceburdens (e.g., USA PATRIOT 326, 314(a), OFAC, etc.), and an identityfraud prevention program. For example, the verification service 20 canverify the identity of individuals and businesses by cross-checkingaggregated records (e.g., billions of aggregated records) from multipleindependent sources. In some embodiments, the verification service 20provides substantially real-time results and provides a “pass” or “fail”answer and/or an intermediate verification score. The verificationservice 20 can also provide options for adding “out of wallet” or presetquestion/answer sets that must be answered by the customer in order toverify the customer's identity.

As shown in FIG. 2, if the customer does not pass the verificationprocess performed by the verification service 20 (step 22), the onlineaccount opening service 15 can terminate or fail the new account processor transaction (step 24). If the customer passes the verificationprocess (step 22), the online account opening service 15 can identify afinancial risk associated with the customer (e.g., the likelihood thatthe customer is attempting a fraudulent account opening). For example,the online account opening service 15 can use a risk assessment service26 to determine a risk (e.g., a risk score) associated with thecustomer. One commercially operational example of a network embodying arisk assessment service 26 is the Qualifile™ brand network and serviceoperated and offered by eFunds Corporation of Phoenix, Ariz.(embodiments of which are described in co-pending U.S. application Ser.Nos. 09/653,595; 10/136,042; and 10/221,011; the entire contents ofwhich are all herein incorporated by reference). The risk assessmentservice 26 can access financial data, such as debit bureau information,credit bureau data, demographic data, etc., from one or more sources(e.g., tri-bureau credit models) to predict or determine a riskassociated with a customer. In some embodiments, the risk assessmentservice 26 uses one or more identity theft tools, such as a fraudidentification system including a neural-network decisioning model, topredict the likelihood of identity manipulation or fraud. The identitytheft tools can use customer data to provide a score on a customer thatindicates a fraud risk level involved with doing business with thecustomer. In some embodiments, the identity theft tools also provideidentity manipulation and predictive fraud modeling, which can identifyinconsistent, inaccurate, or fraudulent information provided by acustomer. In addition, in some embodiments, the identity theft toolsprovide fraud attributes on a real-time basis. An example of such afraud identification service 26 is the FRAUDFINDER™ brand fraudidentification system from ChexSystems, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiaryof eFunds Corporation.

The risk assessment service 26 can be used to accommodate consumerauthentication. The risk assessment service 26 can use alogistic-regression model to predict the likelihood of account-relatedabuse. For example, the risk assessment service 26 can use customer datato calculate a risk that an account will be closed for abuse at a laterdate and can deliver a recommendation to a financial institutionregarding an action to take on a new account application. Potentialrecommendations include approval of a new account and rejection of thenew account. In some embodiments, the risk assessment service 26 alsocalculates cross-selling opportunities for additional products for aconsumer. For example, based on a credit score and key demographicvariables determined by the risk assessment service 26, the riskassessment service 26 can recommend which other products, if any, afinancial institution should offer a customer. In some embodiments, theonline account opening service 15 forwards cross-selling opportunitiesdetermined by the risk assessment service 26 to the customer forconsideration (e.g., via one or more screen of the service 15). In someembodiments, a financial institution associated with the online accountopening service 15 can also set parameters (e.g., via the automatedconfiguration application 16) that allow risk assessment alignment withor customization from other risk assessment application channels.

As shown in FIG. 2, if a customer does not pass the risk assessmentprocess performed by the risk assessment service 26 (step 28), theonline account opening service 15 can terminate or fail the new accounttransaction (step 24). If a customer passes the risk assessment process(step 28), in some embodiments, the service 15 obtains funding sourceinformation 30 from the customer that identifies an existing foundingsource from which funds can be transferred to a new account. The fundingsource information 30 can include a customer name, a funding accountrouting transit number (“RTN”), etc. It should be understood that thecustomer can manually input funding source information 30 (e.g., via ascreen of the service 15) and/or can use a card reader or other dataaccessing device to input funding source information. For example, thecustomer can use a card reader connected to the remote device 12 toswipe a credit card or debit card or can use a MICR check readerconnected to the remote device 12 to scan a paper check. It should alsobe understood that, in some embodiments, the customer provides thefunding source information 30 with or at the same time as the accountapplication information 18.

In some embodiments, the online account opening service 15 providesseveral funding options. Therefore, the funding source information 30can specify a credit card or debit card account, an ACH transfer, an ATMaccount, a wire transfer, etc. It should be understood that the service15 can allow customers to electronically transfer funds to a new accountfrom an existing account (e.g., a checking account) managed by thefinancial institution from which the customer is requesting a newaccount or can allow customers to electronically transfer funds to a newaccount from an existing account or source managed by another financialinstitution, such as a debit card or a credit card account. For example,in some embodiments, the online account opening service 15 acceptscredit card information and/or debit card information, validates thecard information, and enacts a series of electronic transactions totransfer funds from a credit card account or a debit card account to anew account.

As shown in FIG. 2, using the funding source information 30, the onlineaccount opening service 15 can perform risk assessment and evaluationservices on the funding source specified by the customer, such asdetermining a risk score for the funding source, performing additionalidentity authentication services, and/or performing data matchingservices, such as a magnetic ink character recognition (“MICR”) oraccount number and name data matching services, to verify the customerand/or the funding source. For example, the service 15 can attempt tomatch a customer's personal data 18 and/or funding source data 30 tofinancial data (e.g., credit bureau data, debit bureau data, financialaccount data, historical debit data collected by the financialinstitution, etc.) accessible and/or owned by the financial institution.For example, a financial institution can attempt to match a customer'sname to the customer's funding source by accessing previously-collecteddebit data. In some embodiments, the online account opening service 15combines the results of various risk assessment and evaluation servicesin order to determine a risk score associated with the funding source.

If the online account opening service 15 can match all or a portion ofthe customer's funding source information 30 with the customer's accountapplication information 18 (or if a risk score associated with thefunding source is equal to or above a predetermined threshold or valueset by the financial institution) (step 34), the service 15 can proceedwith approving the new account application and opening and funding thenew account from the specified funding source. In some embodiments, theservice 15 can open a new account by transmitting data and/orinstructions to a separate application or system (e.g., managed by thefinancial institution), which “opens” the new account (e.g., stores anew database record in an account database managed by the financialinstitution).

After the account is “opened” or created, the service 15 can transferfunds to the account. In some embodiments, the service 15 can transferfunds by transmitting instructions to a separate application or system,which performs the transfer. As noted above, the service 15 can allowtransfers from various funding sources. Therefore, the service 15 canperform various types of electronic fund transfers, such as a creditcard transaction, an ACH transfer, a debit card or ATM transaction, or awire transfer. The funds transfers can occur over various time periods.For example, the service 15 can perform a substantially real-time debitcard or ATM transaction, can perform a next day ACH transfer, and/or canperform a multiple day (e.g., 3 day) wire transfer.

As shown in FIG. 2, if the online account opening service 15 cannotmatch some or all of the customer's funding source information 30 withthe customer's account application information 18 (or if a risk scoreassociated with the funding source is below or unequal to apredetermined threshold or value set by the financial institution), theservice 15 can reject and terminate the new account transaction or canaccept the new account transaction and place a hold on the new account(step 38). In some embodiments, after placing a hold on a new account,the service 15 directs the customer applying for the new account to fundthe new account through a different funding source (e.g., a credit cardaccount or a debit card account) and prompts the customer for newfunding source information 30.

In some embodiments, if a new account transaction is accepted and/or ifa hold is placed on a new account, the account opening service 15 alsodetermines one or more constraints for the funding of the new account.For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the online account opening service 15can apply rules 40 (e.g., business rules set by the financialinstitution associated with the service 15) via a rules engineapplication 42 to one or more funding inputs 42 (e.g., a verificationscore, identity verification data, identity authentication data, anaccount risk score, matching data, etc.) in order to determine one ormore funding outputs 44. The funding outputs 44 can include a fundingdecision (i.e., whether to accept the customer's request to open a newaccount). If the customer's request for a new account is accepted, thefunding outputs 44 can also include one or more funding constraints fora new account (e.g., a maximum funding amount, a funding hold time,etc.). In some embodiments, by developing parameters for fundingconstraints based upon the decisions or scores determined by customerand funding source authentication and/or risk assessment services, theservice 15 provides an account opening solution that minimizes customerintrusion, time, and effort while maximizing risk mitigation. Forexample, highly qualified prospective customers or customers can havethe most flexibility in funding their new account and less qualifiedprospective customers or customers can have less flexibility in fundingtheir new account. In some embodiments, using the rules 40 and the rulesengine application 42 to determine funding constraints on a new account,a financial institution managing the online account opening service 15can allow more new accounts to be opened online.

In some embodiments, the online account opening service 15 uses decisiontrees to segment a prospective customer base according to levels ofbusiness risk that the funding of a new account poses to the financialinstitution operating the online account opening service 15. Rules 40supplied by the financial institution operating the online accountopening service 15 (e.g., via the automated configuration application16) can drive the flow and control of the decision trees. In someembodiments, the application and status of decision trees can bemonitored via a management console application, as described below withrespect to FIG. 6.

The authentication/verification and risk assessment performed by theonline account opening service 15 can provide a substantially instant,same session, independent verification of a funding source that is aless intrusive way of reducing risk of fraudulent funding. For example,the authentication/verification and risk assessment performed by theonline account opening service 15 can provide customer verification,customer risk assessment, and account risk assessment, which can includematching the customer with the funding source specified by the customer.Therefore, the authentication/verification and risk assessment performedby the online account opening service 15 can provide a thoroughassessment of a customer applying for a new account and a thoroughassessment of a funding source specified by the customer, which canreduce fraud and losses experienced by a financial institution due tofraud and high risk customers.

The online account opening service 15 can be integrated with otherservices and/or systems of a financial institution (e.g., a coresystem). For example, a financial institution can integrate the onlineaccount opening service 15 in real-time with leading core systems. Withsupport for messages such as New Account, New Sub-Account, Inquiry,Transaction, Lookup, Card, Warning, Hold, Password(s), Owner, etc., anintegration module of the online account opening service 15 can mapmessage types to proprietary host system formats for a generallyseamless interface for automatically routing new account applications toa financial institution. In some embodiments, the online account openingservice 15 routes new account applications to a financial institutionsystem in substantially real-time or as a batch (e.g., overnight). Theintegration module of the service 15 can connect to an environment of afinancial institution through an encrypted Internet- or virtual privatenetwork- (“VPN-”) based connection.

As shown in FIG. 4, using the rules 40 and the rules engine application42, the account management system 11 can determine whether to allow acustomer to open an account and, if the customer is allowed to open anaccount, can determine one or more funding constraints for the account,such as a funding limit for the account (e.g., $150 to $5,000) and/or ahold time that specifies a time period before funds transferred to thenew account are available for use (e.g., real-time to 10 days). Asdescribed above, these decisions can be based on the scores determinedby the customer/funding source authentication and/or verificationservices used by the online account opening service 15 and/or a finalrisk score determined therefrom. The financial institution can set thelimits or constraints applied to each score or ranges of scores in orderto set the risk experienced by the financial institution accordingly(e.g., via the automated configuration application 16). As shown in FIG.4, the account management system 11 can transmit the funding outputs 44to a system 46 of a financial institution directly and/or via one ormore computer networks 45. The account management system 11 can alsotransmit the funding outputs 44 to the remote device 12 that submittedthe new account application.

If the online account opening service 15 approves a new account for acustomer, the service 15 can provide fulfillment and integrationservices. For example, the service 15 can provide one or more forms to acustomer for signing. As noted above, the service 15 can provideelectronic signature tools that a customer can use to digitally sign theaccount forms. The forms can include standard forms or custom formsdefined by the financial institution.

As shown in FIG. 2, after funding constraints have been determined bythe online account opening service 15, the service 15 can perform theinitial funding (step 36) (e.g., ACH, credit card, debit card, etc.) bycommunicating with one or more external systems 50 (e.g., a financialinstitution 50 a, a meta bank 50 b, a credit card verification system 50c, a credit card processing and settlement system 50 d, etc.). In someembodiments, the service 15 provides one or more funding options, suchas instant funds transfers, hold placement automation, and conditionalfunds access. If the funding source of the customer includes aparticular type of account (e.g., a credit card account 51), the onlineaccount opening service 15 may prompt the customer for additionalfunding information 52 (e.g., a credit card account number, a nameassociated with a credit card account, an expiration date, etc.) beforeperforming the new account funding. Performing the funding transactioncan include transferring funds from general ledger to a share; from asettlement account (share) to another share; from a customer/membershare to another share; from a share in an existing customer/member'sexisting account to a share in an existing customer/member's newaccount; from cash, check, money order, payroll check, etc.; or via acore credit union ACH origination.

In some embodiments, when creating a new account, the service 15 canautomatically create an account number, name, card, hold, and PINassociated with the new account. In addition, in some embodiments, acustomer can use the online account opening service 15 to order checks,order a debit card, set up and/or order ATM card member information, setup and access online or telephone banking services, set up and accessonline bill payment services, configure overdraft options (e.g., set upsavings overdraft protection to prime/membership savings), and/orconfigure certificate maturity and dividend options. The online accountopening service 11 can also automate one or more of the aboveactivities, such as by automatically ordering checks or a debit card fora customer and/or by setting up a default username and password that thecustomer can use to access online banking services and/or online billpayment services.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, after creating and funding the newaccount (step 54), the online account opening service 11 can provideaccount opening information 56 to the customer and/or a financialinstitution. For example, the service 15 can provide information to thecustomer and/or a financial institution that specifies an amount ofmoney transferred to the new account, the funding source or type choice,a name associated with the funding source, a RTN number or credit cardnumber of the funding source, etc.

FIG. 5 illustrates a hypothetical scenario 60 for approving new accountrequests according to one embodiment of the invention. The scenario 60illustrated in FIG. 5 illustrates hypothetical percentages of customersopening new accounts using the online account opening service 15 andchoosing various funding sources (e.g., credit or debit card accounts,checking account or ACH accounts, and other means). As shown in FIG. 5,using the above authentication, verification, and risk assessment method14 as described above with respect to FIGS. 2 and 4, the online accountopening service 11 can determine whether to accept, reject, or acceptwith particular constraints a customer's new account application. In thehypothetical situation shown in FIG. 5, using the rules-driven riskmanagement strategy, as described above with respect to FIG. 4, theonline account opening service 15 can accept and open approximately 11%more accounts. This increase in accepted new accounts can provideadditional revenue for a financial institution without exposing thefinancial institution to high or undesired financial risk.

As noted above, the online account opening service 15 can also usesimilar business rules to provide cross-selling options to customers.For example, additional products can be dynamically offered to acustomer through the online account opening service 15 based on thedecisions, scores, and recommendations determined by the service 15. Acustomer can also use interactive screens provided by the service 15 toaccept or decline offered products and, in some embodiments, to set-upor manage accepted products

In some embodiments, the online account opening service 15 provides amanagement console that can provide monitoring (e.g., generally seamlessreporting and exception management) of the account opening and/orfunding process. FIG. 6 illustrates a system for managing the fundingprocess according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 6,the account management system 11 can provide or host (e.g., ASP host) amanagement console application 62, and agents or employees associatedwith a financial institution can access the management console 62 toobtain a multipurpose view of automated processes performed by theaccount management system 11. In some embodiments, an individualassociated with a financial institution can access the managementconsole using a remote device 12 connected to the account managementsystem 11 via one or more networks 13. For example, an individual canexecutes a browser application to request, access, view, and provideinput to screens (e.g., web pages) of the management console application62. Alternatively or in addition, the management console application 62can be stored locally by a remote device 12 and can request and receivestatus and reporting information from the account management system 11via a direct or indirect (e.g., via the Internet) connection.Individuals requesting access to the management console application 62can be authorized by the application 62 before being allowed access. Forexample, an individual can provide a username, a password, a personalidentification number (“PIN”), and/or other identifying information, andthe management console application 62 can process the identifyinginformation in order to authorize the individual.

In some embodiments, the management console application 62 providesaccess to queues for manual and exception processes and can give anaccount opening process owner or manager a window into effectivenessand/or efficiency parameters of the account opening process. Forexample, the management console application 62 can display the number ofnew account requests accepted by the service 15, the number of newaccount requests rejected by the service 15, the percentage of newaccount requests accepted or declined by the service 15, the average ortotal amount of funds transferred to new accounts, the types and numberof constraints associated with new accounts, etc. The parameters can bebased on processes occurring with a predetermined time period, such asprocesses occurring over the past 24 hours, over the past week, over thepast month, etc. The management console application 62 can allow anindividual to modify the predetermined time period in order to viewparameters over various time periods. In some embodiments, themanagement console application 62 can also display pending new accountrequests (e.g., new account requests requiring manual review). Anindividual can use the management console application 62 to route apending request to a particular individual associated with the financialinstitution, to accept a pending request, to reject a pending request,to set funding constraints for a pending request, and/or to documentinformation associated with a pending request.

The management console application 62 can be secure and can providereal-time, web-based transaction and activity reporting. Using themanagement console application 62, process owners, product managers,auditors, and compliance officers can have access to reports anddocumentation (e.g., standard or customized) that enable access andmanagement of account opening processes, policies, and procedures. Themanagement console application 62 can allow a user to manage open items,automatically assign and route tasks based on user roles, display apending queue for tasks awaiting a review decision, and provide campaignmanagement. The management console application 62 can also provide audittrails and can provide permissions-based access control. In someembodiments, the management console application 62 includes a modulardesign that is customizable by a financial institution (e.g., using arules-driven strategy). In some embodiments, the management consoleapplication 62 also allows an individual to configure the system 15. Forexample, the management console can be combined with the functionalityof the automated configuration application 16, as described above withrespect to FIG. 3.

The functionality of the online account opening service 15 can begoverned by the Fair Credit Report Act (“FCRA”) and can provide anotification of an adverse action if the online account opening service15 declines a customer's request for a new account. In some embodiments,the online account opening service 15 or the financial institutionmanaging the service 15 provides a FCRA call center for directingcustomers to individuals or agencies for processing the notification. Asnoted above, the online account opening service 15 can also direct thedeclined customer to use an alternate funding source (e.g., a creditcard or a debit card) in order to overcome a declination.

In some embodiments, in addition to providing account opening servicesto a financial institution, the online account opening service 15 alsoprovides account funding services, ACH processing services, automatedfunding risk management strategies services, and/or professionalconsulting services for establishing a custom funding risk managementstrategy.

It should be understood that the funding source verification methoddescribed above can be used with various other financial products andservice other than or in addition to new account opening and funding.For example, the funding source verification method described above canbe performed to authenticate automated bill payments, to qualify fundingaccounts for stored value accounts, and/or to open mortgage accounts. Itshould also be understood that the funding source verification methoddescribed above can be combined with other verification methods, such aschallenge deposits, in order to provide additional verificationprocesses.

Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in thefollowing claims.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of opening an account with a financialinstitution via an account management system having an account openingservice, the account management system including a memory module, aninput/output interface, and a processor, the method comprising:electronically storing in the memory module at least one rule foropening an account with a financial institution; electronicallyreceiving, by the input/output interface, account applicationinformation from a remote device over at least one network, the accountapplication information including personal information of a customerrequesting to open an account; electronically receiving, by theinput/output interface, funding source information from the remotedevice over at least one network, the funding source informationspecifying at least one funding source; electronically receiving, by theinput/output interface, transmitted configuration information;processing the transmitted configuration information so as to modifyfunctionality of the account opening service, wherein the functionalitycomprises; determining with the processor, based on the accountapplication information, at least one risk score specifying a risk tothe financial institution of transferring funds from the at least onefunding source to the account; comparing the at least one rule with theat least one risk score by the processor in order to determine adecision regarding the account application information by comparing theat least one rule with the at least one risk score in order to determinewhether to accept the account application information and open theaccount; determining one or more parameters for at least one fundingconstraint based upon the account application information;electronically transmitting, by the input/output interface, the decisionand the one or more parameters to the financial institution over the atleast one network; and providing an account-opening solution inaccordance with the decision and the one or more parameters.
 22. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the comparing the at least one rule with atleast one risk score by the processor in order to determine at least onefunding constraint associated with the account includes comparing the atleast one rule with at least one risk score in order to determine amaximum funding amount for the account.
 23. The method of claim 21,wherein the comparing the at least one rule with at least one risk scoreby the processor in order to determine at least one funding constraintassociated with the account includes comparing the at least one rulewith at least one risk score in order to determine a hold time for fundstransferred to the account.
 24. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising electronically receiving the at least one rule from anindividual associated with the financial institution over at least onenetwork.
 25. The method of claim 21, further comprising opening theaccount with the financial institution by way of the processor andassociating the at least one funding constraint with the account. 26.The method of claim 21, further comprising transferring funds to theaccount by way of the processor via at least one of a credit cardtransaction, a debit card transaction, an ACH transaction, and a wiretransfer.
 27. The method of claim 21, wherein the determining at leastone risk score with the processor based on the account applicationinformation includes determining a risk score specifying a risk to thefinancial institution of opening the account for the customer.
 28. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the determining at least one risk scorespecifying a risk to the financial institution of transferring fundsfrom the at least one funding source includes determining a risk scorebased on attempting to match at least a portion of the accountapplication information with at least a portion of the funding sourceinformation.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the determining atleast one risk score with the processor based on attempting to match atleast a portion of the account application information with at least aportion of the funding source information includes processingpreviously-collected debit data with the processor.
 30. An accountmanagement system for opening an account with a financial institutionvia an account opening service, the system comprising: anelectronically-implemented memory configured to store at least one rulefor opening an account with a financial institution and a rules engineapplication; an electronically-implemented input/output interface deviceconfigured to receive: account application information from at least oneremote device over at least one network and transmitted configurationinformation; an electronically-implemented processor programmed to:process the transmitted configuration information so as to modifyfunctionality of the account opening service, the functionalityconfigured to; determine at least one risk score based on the accountapplication information, the at least one risk score specifying a riskto the financial institution of opening the account for the customer;execute the rules engine application to compare the at least one rulewith the at least one risk score in order to determine a decisionregarding the account application information; determine one or moreparameters for at least one funding constraint based upon the accountapplication information; and provide an account-opening solution inaccordance with the decision and the one or more parameters.
 31. Thesystem of claim 30, wherein the at least one funding constraint includesa maximum funding amount for the account.
 32. The system of claim 31,wherein the at least one funding constraint includes a funding hold timefor funds transferred to the account.
 33. The system of claim 31,wherein the input/output interface electronically transmits the decisionand the at least one funding constraint to the remote device over atleast one network.
 34. A system for opening an account with a financialinstitution, the system comprising: an account management system havingan account opening service; at least one network; and at least oneremote device configured to electronically transmit account applicationinformation and configuration information to the account managementsystem over the at least one network; wherein the account managementsystem is configured to: process the transmitted configurationinformation so as to modify functionality of the account openingservice, the functionality configured to; generate at least one riskscore based on the account application information; compare at least onerule to the at least one risk score in order to determine a decisionregarding the account application information; determine one or moreparameters for at least one funding constraint based upon the accountapplication information; electronically transmit the decision and theone or more parameters to the at least one remote device over the atleast one network; and provide an account-opening solution in accordancewith the decision and the one or more parameters.